When a 61-year-old bridge over Bear Creek is demolished in July, Barnett Road will turn into a dead-end street for about six months, and merchants along one of the city's busiest thoroughfares say they are bracing for the fallout.
"We've been dreading this day for years now," said Curt Moore, owner of the Black Bear Diner.
Starting sometime after July 4, drivers coming from residential areas in east Medford and heading west along Barnett will encounter a construction zone around the diner, the Dairy Queen and four hotels. Motorists heading east no longer will be able to go past Stewart Avenue. In essence, Barnett will become a dead-end street going both directions.
This is the last phase of the South Medford interchange project, and it likely will be one of the most disruptive for local motorists and businesses.
The bridge closure will cut off the Black Bear Diner, an adjacent motel and other businesses from any direct traffic from west of Interstate 5.
Perhaps even more dire will be the situation of the Dairy Queen and three adjacent motels, which will be cut off both from east Medford and from the freeway on- and off-ramps, which are on the east side of the creek. Further west, several gas stations and fast-food restaurants also will be cut off from the east side of Barnett and the freeway ramps.
For either location, a motorist 100 yards away on the opposite side of the creek will face a drive of nearly two miles to reach their businesses.
The Oregon Department of Transportation acknowledges the construction work will be a hardship for businesses. ODOT has hired a marketing person and is installing 11 additional signs to help guide motorists around the area.
"We're obviously concerned about the closure of the bridge," said ODOT spokesman Gary Leaming.
As much as Moore has prepared himself for the bridge closure, he said he has no idea what effect it will have on his diner.
He said he lost 25 percent of his customers when work began on the interchange in 2006, particularly from eastside medical business employees who found the area difficult to negotiate. He has lost additional customers because of the recession, he said.
Moore said he expects the bridge closure will be a shock for many motorists despite the warnings.
"There are a tremendous number of people who don't know the bridge is going to come down," he said. "It will catch a lot of people cold."
The diner has passed out maps and letters to its customers explaining the big change. Some additional signs have been placed to direct motorists, but Moore said he was hoping for more.
He has asked ODOT to install three additional signs at various points along Highway 99 at Barnett, Stewart and Garfield.
"After all this construction, this is the only thing I asked for, and they said they couldn't do it for me," he said.
Leaming said that after some review, ODOT decided it could put the signs in if Moore agreed to pay half the cost, which he had volunteered to do.
Moore said he didn't think ODOT's new marketing person, hired to help affected businesses, will help much.
"Why are they bringing this person out a couple of weeks before the closure?" he asked.
While the marketing person seems knowledgeable, Moore said, many of the ideas she suggested already were in the works by the local businesses.
"We're kind of on our own," he said.
Moore said the contractor, Wildish Standard Paving of Eugene, has indicated it might complete the bridge project in less than six months, but Moore said he isn't holding his breath. ODOT on Friday announced the start of the project would be delayed by two weeks because of difficulty getting a signal control mast on the new interchange bridge.
Leaming said his department has paid for multiple signs already to make sure motorists know about the six businesses that are in the construction "hot zone."
Leaming said the restaurant that now houses the Black Bear Diner had been closed for years, but was reopened just prior to the beginning of the South Medford Interchange project.
"He knew this project was coming, but he elected to open his business there," he said.
ODOT did not hold a marketing meeting until May 12, because the project was in flux and there wasn't a lot that businesses could do until they got closer to the date of the bridge closure, said Leaming. He said the purpose of the meeting was to help the businesses work together.
Leaming said it will be a challenge for local motorists to deal with the closure of a major arterial street. He said he hopes residents understand the need to continue to support the affected businesses.
On the west side of the interchange, Leaming said, the merchants won't be as impacted by the bridge closure.
He said there still will be street access to Winco, gas stations and restaurants, as well as signs that will help motorists.
"It will be different, but you will still able to get there," he said.
Barbara Schenck, a marketing consultant who worked with ODOT on the closure of a bridge in Roseburg, said that no businesses closed as a result of the bridge work in that community.
She said that after the May 12 meeting, the six merchants near the bridge formed a consortium to help promote each other's businesses and share resources, such as coupons that the motels can pass out for the restaurants. She said the businesses also are working individually to get the word out to their customers.
"The main point I want to make is how resilient these people were," said Schenck.
Some businesses don't foresee a problem with the Barnett Road bridge closure.
Darby Stricker, general manager of the Best Western Horizon Inn, adjacent to Black Bear Diner, thinks the worst is behind her because she depends on mostly out-of-town travelers. When the bridge closes, the interchange will have been completed, with an off-ramp delivering motorists close to her front door.
"Once customers are able to access both sides of the freeway, things will improve," she said.
Stricker said she can understand the concerns of the businesses that depend more on local traffic.
"I know some of them are freaking out," she said. "Anybody dependent on local traffic is going to be jammed up by this."
Tom Hawkins, owner of the Dairy Queen, said ODOT and Wildish have done a great job of keeping in contact with business owners. He said the work so far has resulted in only a minor decline in business.
"I think once it is all done and opened up, it will allow better access and visibility and it will overall be safer on Barnett Road," said Hawkins, who runs the business with his wife, Leah.
Jim Potter, owner of Rooster's Restaurant on Barnett's west side of I-5, said he expects to see a downturn in customers.
"I've been telling people we're changing our name to Knot's Landing because we're at the end of a cul-de-sac."
He said he fears motorists coming from the west will be reluctant to take Barnett because it will be closed after Stewart Drive, and traffic from the east will be frustrated by the construction.
"They'd need a compass, a map and a GPS just to get here," he said.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
